Jason Isbell - The Borderline, London

Keen eyed-readers may remember my brother Andy is a hardcore Drive-By-Truckers fan, and we even took a trip to Bilbao in Spain to see them play last time he was in town.
So it's hardly a surprise that when Andy's next visit coincided with a London show for former DBT guitarist now solo artist Jason Isbell - we'd be there with bells on.
It was actually a very packed Borderline for a Monday night, and Jason with his new band The 400 Unit ripped through a set drawn predominantly from his debut solo CD 'Sirens Of The Ditch'.
Opener "Chicago Promenade" set the scene, and not having heard a lot of his solo album I thought the more acoustic "The Magician", played late in the set was a standout.
"Dress Blues" - from his solo album but well known as an anti-war MP3 hosted on Neil Young's website - is a fantastic song, and got as great response. As did a countrified cover of Talking Heads "Psycho Killer". But the real highlight was hearing some of Jason's Drive By Truckers songs: "Danko/Manuel" and "Goddamn Lonely Love" from 2004's 'The Dirty South', together with "Outfit" and "Decoration Day" from 2003's 'Decoration Day'.